New accusations against Santa Rosa deputy who shot boy

Henry K. Lee

Updated 12:39 am, Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Police use a metal detector while they investigate the neighborhood where 13-year-old Andy Lopez was shot in Santa Rosa, California, on Wednesday, October 23, 2013. Andy Lopez was shot by two Sonoma County deputies patrolling Moorland Ave. and West Robles Ave. while he was carrying toy replica guns.
Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Police use a metal detector while they investigate the neighborhood...

Andy Lopez, 13, was shot and killed by a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy in 2013 while holding what turned out to be a replica assault rifle.
Photo: Associated Press

Andy Lopez, 13, was shot and killed by a Sonoma County sheriff's...

Many in the crowd of over 1000 expressed their feelings on signs Tuesday October 29, 2013 in Santa Rosa, Calif. A rally and march to express outrage over the fatal shooting of Andy Lopez Cruz by a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy ended outside the Sheriff's headquarters.
Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Many in the crowd of over 1000 expressed their feelings on signs...

From left, Pamela Cuevas, 15, and Ana Diaz, 17, both of Elsie Alan, chant outside of the courthouse during a "Justice for Andy Lopez" rally and march October 29, 2013 in Santa Rosa, Calif. Hundreds rallied at the Old Courthouse Square and marched to Santa Rosa Junior College, gave speeches and then marched on en masse down the middle of Mendocino Ave to the Sheriff's Department where there were speeches and chanting. Andy Lopez Cruz, 15 was killed on Oct. 22 by a Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy just outside of Santa Rosa when he was spotted carrying a toy rifle.
Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

From left, Pamela Cuevas, 15, and Ana Diaz, 17, both of Elsie Alan,...

Brissa Gonzalez, 14, holds up her phone which has been adorned with a custom cover with Andy Lopez's photograph during a "Justice for Andy Lopez" rally and march October 29, 2013 in Santa Rosa, Calif. Hundreds rallied at the Old Courthouse Square and marched to Santa Rosa Junior College, gave speeches and then marched on en masse down the middle of Mendocino Ave to the Sheriff's Department where there were speeches and chanting. Andy Lopez Cruz, 15 was killed on Oct. 22 by a Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy just outside of Santa Rosa when he was spotted carrying a toy rifle.

Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

Brissa Gonzalez, 14, holds up her phone which has been adorned with...

Esmeralda Mendoza, 14, wears a beanie honoring her classmate Andy Lopez during a viewing for Lopez at the Windsor-Healdsburg Mortuary in Windsor, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. More than 1,000 people turned out for a service to remember Lopez, a 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy in Northern California. Authorities say Lopez was carrying a pellet gun that looked like an AK-47 assault rifle when a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy shot him. (AP Photo/The Press Democrat, Conner Jay)
Photo: Conner Jay, Associated Press

Esmeralda Mendoza, 14, wears a beanie honoring her classmate Andy...

Ezau Ruiz, 28 years old, left his 11 year old's soft air gun at the memorial site of where 13-year-old Andy Lopez was shot yesterday afternoon in Santa Rosa, California, on Tuesday, October 22, 2013. Ezau says more time should have been given before making the mistake of shooting the child. Andy Lopez was shot by Sonoma County deputies mid afternoon yesterday by two Sonoma County deputies patrolling Mooreland Ave. and West Robles Ave. while he was carrying toy replica guns.
Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Ezau Ruiz, 28 years old, left his 11 year old's soft air gun at the...

(01-07) 21:12 PST SANTA ROSA -- The Sonoma County sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy after mistaking the youth's replica gun for an assault rifle has a history of excessive force and questionable judgment, the teenager's family said Tuesday in an amended lawsuit.

Deputy Erick Gelhaus had been involved in several controversial incidents long before he encountered and shot dead eighth-grader Andy Lopez in October, the suit said.

In 1996, Gelhaus pointed his gun at a woman "carrying her young son" after she had called for help in connection with a dispute with a neighbor, the suit said. "He chased her around her vehicle, causing her great fear and anxiety," the complaint said.

Around that same year, Gelhaus and his partner were accused of falsifying police reports in a domestic violence matter, the suit said. The other deputy, whose name wasn't released, was fired, according to the suit.

The suit also cites an incident in August, two months before the teenager was killed, in which Gelhaus allegedly pulled a gun on motorist Jeffrey Westbrook two times during a traffic stop on Highway 101 in Cotati. Westbrook told The Chronicle that the interaction troubled him so much that he recalled asking the deputy at one point, "Sir, is there something wrong with you?"

Sheriff's officials "were long aware of the propensity of defendant Gelhaus to recklessly draw his firearm and to use excessive force," said the suit, which the family first filed in November. The new allegations were added to the suit Tuesday.

Sheriff's officials have not responded to the fresh allegations in court.

On Oct. 22, Gelhaus and a deputy he was training pulled up behind Andy, who was holding what turned out to be a replica AK-47 pellet gun in his left hand near his home outside Santa Rosa. A witness heard Gelhaus yell at the boy twice to drop the weapon, police said. Gelhaus has told investigators that he fired when the boy turned and the barrel of the rifle rose toward the deputies, he said.

An attorney for Gelhaus has said that the deputy "absolutely believed it was a real AK-47 and absolutely feared for his life."

Gelhaus, an Iraq War veteran and frequent contributor to law enforcement magazines and online forums in which he promotes officer safety, "instructed and advised others on the use of questionable tactics, including recommendations as to how an officer must respond to justify shooting a kid with a toy gun," the suit said.

After shooting the boy, Gelhaus deleted his online comments "in an effort to conceal his beliefs," the suit said.

Gelhaus had not previously not fired on anyone in his 24 years with the Sheriff's Office, where he has served as a field training officer for new recruits and trains colleagues to shoot at the department's gun range. But the suit cites an incident in 1995 in which he accidentally shot himself in the leg while on duty, reportedly while holstering a gun.